Fellowships

  • The Movement Leader Fellowship is for leaders in labor, advocacy, and community organizing with approximately 10-15 years of experience in social justice work. We are especially seeking applicants from historically marginalized backgrounds such as Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), women and nonbinary people, LGBTQ+ people, and people from low-income, working class, and immigrant backgrounds.

    The program includes three week-long in-person gatherings at the beginning, middle, and end of the year, focusing on cohort and community building, practical skills building, discussions about career pathways, and navigating personal and inner dimensions of leadership. It also encompasses two 3-credit graduate level classes, a required course on Power and Strategy in the Spring semester and a choice of courses in the Fall semester taught by nationally renowned movement leaders and academics. Participants will be paired with seasoned mentors, peer coaches and receive other forms of support. We are in the process of developing a graduate level certificate program, so that participants who wish will eventually be able to convert their participation in the program into an academic credential.

  • The ROCC Fellowship was created to invest in the leadership of organizers in the South, and provide them with an opportunity to hone their leadership skills, immerse themselves in theory and practice, and expand their community in movement work. This 6-month program provides a cohort-based experience, granting fellows the chance to connect and build relationships across issues, take space for reflection, and prepare themselves for the next level of leadership. The ROCC Fellowship offers a unique combination of academic coursework to expose practitioners to relevant fields in political economy, policy, and organizing with practical skills such as management, communications, and strategy development to support participants’ growth. The ROCC Fellowship is for leaders in labor, advocacy, and community organizing with approximately 7-10 years of experience in social justice work. We are especially seeking applicants from historically marginalized backgrounds such as Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), women and nonbinary people, LGBTQ+ people, and people from low-income, working class, and immigrant backgrounds.

  • The Emerging Leader fellowship is for people interested in social justice work, across a wide variety of movements and issue areas who are either looking to start working in social justice work or who have recently started their social justice careers. The program will provide special training, mentoring, and career services. The weekend programs will include in-person and virtual opportunities to learn from seasoned national leaders in movements for social change about everything from strategy and power to the history of social movements.

    The Fellowship primarily seeks to elevate the leadership of people who identify as Black Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC), working-class, immigrant, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and other historically marginalized identities and strongly encourages these people to apply.

  • The Institute’s Social Change Fellowship, which launched as a pilot in fall 2021, brings together an emerging generation of highly passionate, mission-driven, college students and career changers seeking impactful leadership development and deeper knowledge of the social sector to propel their careers. During the program, fellows participate in four intensive weekends of programming in NYC with organizers and leaders from different fields and receive mentoring and career support.

    A core component of the program is the opportunity for Fellows to bridge theory and practice through paid spring internship placements with leading community organizing, policy advocacy, or labor organizations. Fellows work 32 hours/week for eight weeks, receive a $5,000 stipend, and are provided a host of professional enrichment opportunities and wrap-around support.